Manufacture of thread or the like



. 24, 1940. w. F. KNEBUSCH ETAL NUFACTURE 0F THREAD OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 18,1935 5 Sheets-Sheet l II ff INVENTORJ KNEBUSCH WALTER F. B-YALIDEN H.

BURKHOLDER MJW ATTORNEY D3; 1940-v w. F. KNEBUSCH ETAL 1 2,225,642

MANUFACTURE OF THREAD OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 18; 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 WALTER F. KNEBUSCQ! 8| ALDEN H. BURKHQLDER I f m ATTORNEY 1940- w. F. KNEBUSCH EI'AL 2,225,542

MANUFACTURE OF THREAD OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 18, 1935 5 SheetsSheet 3 mmvroxs F. NEBUSCH & N H. BURKHOLDER MKWV ATTORNEY Dec. 24, 1940.

Filed Feb. 18, 1955 w. F. KNEBUSCH ETAL I MANUFACTURE OF THREAD OR THE LIKE WALTER F. KNE

ALDEN M Kym 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORJ BUSCH 8- H. BURKHOLDER A TTORNEY 1940- w. F. KNEBUSCH ET AL 2,225,642

MANUFACTURE OF THREAD OR THE LIKE II V 75-? FIG.- 14

INVENTOR5 WALTER F. KNEBUSCH & ALDEN H. BURKHOLDER A TTORNE Y Patented Dec. 24, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MANUFACTURE OF THREAD OR THE LIKE Walter F. Knebuscli and Alden H. Burkholder, Cleveland. Ohio, assignors to Industrial Rayon Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application February 18, 1935, Serial No. 7,114

8Claims.

ably processed by subjecting it 'to any neces-' sary or desirable treatments, and finally may be twisted and wound into package form ready for shipment or use. As will appear, the invention is not limited to the manufacture of artificial silk thread, but is applicable to the manufacture of various other thread or the like.

One object of the invention is to provide new and improved apparatus arranged to permit accurate and convenient control not only of the mechanism but also of the various steps of the process, for the purpose of securing a uniform product useful for both woven and knitted fab- 20 rics or materials. 1

A further object is to provide improved mechanism in which the thread is led in succession to and along a series of thread-storage, threadadvancing reels, on each of which many helical 25 turns of thread or the like progress in order from the receiving to the discharge end with the possibility of thus carrying upon a reel a sufficient length of thread or the like to enable one or more process steps to be performed upon it while on that reel.

A further object is to provide such mechanism in which the several reels are so related to each other as to permit the thread or the like to be readily transferred from reel toreel and at the same time be exposed to the view and access of an attendant for convenient operative manipulation.

A further object is to provide mechanism of this kind built in units readily capable of multiplication so that a single machine can be made to produce a large number of separate threads or like products and at the same time provide convenient access to all parts of the mechanism for control and operating purposes.

A further object is to provide mechanism of this kind in whichsuccessive reels are arranged in stepped relation, each projecting endwise beyond its predecessor, with the possibility of presenting two similar sets of devices upon opposite faces of the same machine, for more convenient multiplication of units.

A further object is to provide mechanism of this kind in which the reels are of such form as to be capable of automatically causing transfer of the thread from reel to reel without any inherent necessity for special transfer mechanism or any requirement for special manipulation by highly skilled operators, although either or both of such mechanism and manipulation may be employed, if desired.

A further object is to provide improved reel mechanism of the character described in which the thread-or the like, or a plurality of turns thereof, is automatically advanced from end to end of the reel, said reel embodying simple and improved means for adjusting the lead, or, in

other words, the rate of travel of the thread or the like along the reel.

Further objects of the invention are in part obvious and in part will appear more in detail hereinafter.

In the drawings, which represent one suitable embodiment of the invention, Fig. l is an end view, partly broken out, of a complete machine embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through the drying reel, on the line 2-2, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 33-,,Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an end eleva tion corresponding to Fig. l, but on a larger scale, with parts broken out and in section, to expose interior mechanism, the air and liquor supply and circulating systems being largely omitted, to avoid confusion in illustration. Fig. 5 is a front elevation, on the same scale as Fig. 4, but viewed from the right in Fig. 1, parts being broken. out or omitted for simplicity of illusstation.

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional elevation, on a larger scale, through one of the reels and its driving mechanism, on approximately the line t-E, 5 and 7. Fig. 7 is a detail plan View, illustrating several of the devices shown in Fig. 6, the cover of the gear casing being omitted. Fig. 8 is an end view of the reel from the left in Fig. 6. Fig. 9 is a detail view, partly in elevation correspond- I ing to Fig. 4 and partly in section on the line 99, Fig. 5. Fig. 10 is a similar view on approximately the line Iii-l0, Fig. 5. Figs. 11 and 12 are respectively an end elevation, partly in section, and a rear view, taken from the right in Fig. 4, illustrating the liquor circulation system. other parts being omitted for simplicity o5 illustration. Fig. 13 is a detail sectional elevation on the line l3-l3, Fig. 7, but on a larger scale. Fig. 14 is adetail section on the line lt-M, Fig. 13. Fig. 15 is an elevation of one of the reels, in

diagrammatic form, corresponding to Fig. 9, and

' thread is spun from the nozzle or spinneret I connection with the production of rayon by any of the wet processes, such as the viscose, cuprammonium, or cellulose acetate processes, and should be understood as applying thereto, for convenience but in no sense of limitation the invention has been illustrated and will be described hereinafter in connection with the viscose process of manufacturing multiple filament artificial silk threads, where an alkaline solution of cellulose xanthate is extruded into a salt or acid spinning bath, is allowed to set up or coagulate, and is subsequently treated in various ways and by various reagents, such as with sulfuric or other acid, with a soluble sulfide, with bleaching solution, with an antichlor reagent, with soap solution, and with any desirable intervening washing steps with hot or cold water, or both, followed by drying, twisting and winding into package form.

Referring first to Fig. 4, the multiple filament into a spinning bath in the trough 2, being then led ,over guides 3, 4 to and along a suitable thread storage reel 5, from which it passes in succession to any suitable or desirable number of following reels, upon which the succeeding steps of the process are performed. Nine such following reels are shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, marked respectively 5a. to 51'. The thread is led from the last reel 51 through a guide 6 to a suitable collecting and package forming device, such' as the cap twister I.

The production of each multiple filament thread requires a complete series of such parts, hereinafter referred to as a unit, including a nozzle, a series of reels in numbers sufiicient to enable the necessary or desirable process steps to be performed upon the thread, and the final collecting device. However, as is usual in this art, a given machine may be built to provide for the simultaneous production of a multiplicity of threads, so that each machine usually includes a series of such units located and arranged with relation to each'other in such manner as to enable the parts to be conveniently accessible for inspection or for any desired or necessary manipulation or control purposes, as well as to enable a plurality of units to be driven from the same power source or sources and therefore in timed relation with each other so that the prodnot of all units is uniform.

In the present machine, for reasons and purposes which will more fully hereinafter appear, the several reels of each unit are located in progressive parallel relation to each other and in descending order, as shown in Fig. 4. In the form shown, the reels are all mounted upon substantlally parallel horizontal axes, with the first reel of the series, say reel 5, at the top. They are also in progressive relation to each other in the sense that the receiving end of each reel is below the discharge end of the next preceding reel, all the way through the series. Also, the discharge ends of all reels are presented to the operator along a common front. As a result, the reels of the .series are in what may be called stepped relation.

Therefore, by arranging units side by side, as shown in Fig. 5, lt'is possible tobuild a double sided machine with the reels of the various units banked upon its opposite sides, the machine as a whole resembling a gable roof and having two ends and two oppositely disposed inclined sides,

as shown inFig. 1. For convenience, Fig. 4 illustrates but one half of the machine, but it will be understood that the other half is of similar form so that it will require no additional description. Further, the elements of each unit of the machine are the same, so that description of a single unit will sufhce for all, except of course that all or any number of units may be simultaneously driven from the same power source or sources, as will be readily understood.

Referring now more in detail to the supporting parts and operating mechanism, the machine as a whole comprises a suitable frame including lower and upper platforms 8, 9, supported respectively by cross beams ill, ll secured to corner posts or columns 12, the platforms 8, 9 being proximately five feet apart, so that an'operator can work in a substantially upright positionon the platform 8, where he has access to the back faces of the two fronts of the machine, while on platform 9 he has access to the rear portions of the upper mechanism. Below platform 8 are cross bars l5 which support the driving and other parts of the mechanism. The base of the machine may be enclosed, if desired, by plates I 6 not only to protect the mechanism, but as a safeguard against injury to the operator. Similar plates or casings l1, preferably removable, may enclose other parts of the driving mechanism.

At one end of the machine is mounted a driving motor 18, Fig. 5, whose shaft actuates a suitable speed reducing device illustrated conventionally at I9 and operating a horizontal cross shaft provided at its opposite ends with bevel gears 2! driving bevel gears 22 on diagonal shafts 23, one on each side of the machine. These diagonal shafts are provided at intervals with take-off drives for the reels at various levels, and the driving connections to the several reels include any suitable form of change speed mechanism. For convenience in manipulation of this mechanism the shafts 23 and the gear connections therefrom to the several reels are located at the end of the machine, as shown in Fig. 5, where they are easily accessible, and corresponding reels of a plurality of units are driven by thesame horizontal shafts, as will more fully appear.

Referring to Fig. 10, each shaft 23, near its upper end, is provided with a spiral gear 24 driving a spiral gear 25 on a short horizontal shaft 26 parallel to the front of the machine. Shaft 26 is provided with two sprocket wheels, 21, 28, the

, first of which is connected by a chain 23 (Fig. 4)

is on a horizontal shaft 34 which extends from end to endof the machine parallel to its front, isprovided at each unit with suitable means for driving the viscose pump, not shown, which supplies viscose to the conduit 35 leading to the spin neret I at that unit of the machine. The pumps on all units are therefore driven by the same shaft and at a uniform rate of speed,. which readily may be varied by changing the size of any or all ofthe change speed gears 33.

a The second sprocket 28 on shaft 26 is connected by a chain 36 (Fig. 9) to .a sprocket 31 on a short shaft 38 which is provided with a gear 39 driving a gear Ill on.a shaft 4| mounted in a .bracket l2 pivoted to turn abouts. shaft 43 and held in any adjusted position by a cap screw 44 passing into the frame through a curved slot in 40 i with a spiral gear 60 meshing witha spiral gear bell crank lever BI.

asses-12 said bracket. shaft 4! also carries a gear 48 meshing with a gear 4! on the shaft 43. Shaft 43 extends horizontally from end to end of the machine and at each unit is provided with a suitable take-of! drive member for the first reel of the unit} such as a spiral gear 41 meshing with a spiral gear 40 loosely rotatable upon a shaft 49, the spiral gear 48 being provided with a clutch member It cooperating with a clutch member 6| splined to the shaft 40 and having a grooved collar 52, in the groove of which is the fork ll of a rod 54 connected to one arm of a controllin Fig. 9 shows the clutch parts iii, II in engagement, so that shaft 49 is rotated.

Said shaft is provided at one end with a sprocket wheel 58 connected by a chain II to a sprocket wheel ll upon the shaft 58 of the first of the thread storage reels 5 of the unit. Such reel is conventionally shown in Fig. 9, but is of suitable form, such as that shown in Fig. 6, so that by rotation of its shaft many turns of thread are advanced in order from its receiving to its discharge end, or, in other words, from right to left in Fig; 9. By turning the bell crank lever clockwise in Fig. 9 the clutch may be disengaged to stop the rotation of said reel and, at any time, by loosening the cap screw 44 and swinging arm 42 to the right the driving gearing may be disengaged. By substitution of a gear of a different size for any one or more of the gears 39, 40, 45, 48, any desired speed ratio may be established between shafts I8 and 59, for change speed purposes, as will be readily understood.

Referring again to Fig. 10, shaft 23 is provided,

at intervals with. take-off drives for the several reels of the series in to It inclusive, but as the drive connection from shaft 23 to each of said reels is the .same, description of one will sufiice for all. In this case, shaft 23 is again provided 61 on a short horizontal shaft 62 parallel to the shaft 38 and provided with a gear 63 driving gears 64, 65. The latter correspond to the gears 40, 45 and, like them, are mounted on an adjustable slotted bracket 66 mounted to swing around the axis of shaft 61, which is provided with a driven gear 68. Here also, by substituting -a gear of different size for any one or more of the gears 63, 64, 65, 68 any desired speed ratio may be established between shafts 62 and 5?.

Shaft 61 at intervals is provided with suitable take-off drive members for corresponding reels of the different units, such as a spiral gear Iii meshing with a spiral gear H loosely rotatable on the shaft I2. Said shaft, like shaft 49, is thrown into and out of operation by actuation of the clutch 13 by its bell crank lever Id. Shaft 12 directly drives one of the thread storage reels of the unit, the details of construction of such reel and its driving mechanism being illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7.

Of course, without further description, it will be understood that the same shaft 23 carries a plurality of the spiral gears distributed along. its length, each of said gears driving a set of change speed mechanism up to one of the shafts '61 which extend from end to end of the machine 1 simplicity in the multiplication of units embodied in the same mechanism. For convenience the parts are arranged to associate in one group a for spinning machine, Serial No. 652,089, January 16, 1933, by Walter F. Efnebuseh, to

small number of units, say five, and the machine as a whole is thus increased in size by associating groups of five units side by side, the machine being expanded endwise, as it were. Each group, of course, embodies its sections of each of the shafts I4, 43 and 81, the shaft sections being connected end to end by couplings IS, a few only of which are shown in Fig. 5. v

Figs. 6, 'l and 8 illustrate the construction and arrangement of a typical reel and its operating mechanism; including a gear box or casing 16 of elongated pan like form, provided with a removable cover ll, witha series of internal bearing bosses 18 on one of its walls and opposite to them with a series of external bearing bosses 19 upon its opposite wall. Cover I1 is provided on its inner surface with a depending plate or boss 11a having inclined sides or faces adapted to direct downwardly upon the gear ii any lubricant splashed inthe casing. Shaft 61 extends through the casing, its outwardly projecting opposite ends being connected by the couplings Ii to like ends of neighboring shaft sections. Shafts I2 are iournalled in the, bearing bosses before referred to, extending horizontally across and through the casing, the gears 10, ll, clutches and operating devices therefor being contained within the casing, which of course serves as a lubricant reservoir.

Similar casings and mountings are utilized for all of the groups of five take-off drives and their clutches, even for the driving mechanism for the first or uppermost reelsof the series, where the bosses form bearings for the intermediate driving shafts 48 instead of the shafts ll of the reels themselves. Consequently the gear casings are well adapted for quantity production. The same system of duplicating parts for multiple use and therefore for quantity production at low cost ex-= tends throughout the entire machine wherever possible.

The typical reel shown in Fig. 6, gener speaking, is of the same form and operates in same manner as the reel shown, described, ar claimed in a prior application for Winding reel which reference may be had for a more complete description, if desired. For the purposes of this application, it is sufllcient to say that the present reel is open ended in the sense that the supports and driving connections for said reel are all com nected to it at one end only of "r open at the other end of the reel, where aiso reel has no shaft extension. Therefore, by rotateast from reel to reel is materially simplified, due particularly to the absence of a shaft extension "is consequently to the freedom of the .s of thread discharged at the end of the real. as essapared with that form of reel in which the s t extends through the reel from end to end, wit bearings at both ends of the In the typical form. shown in Fig. 6 the includes two rigid members, marked respectively 80, 8|. Member may be termed the (2011- centric member, because it is fixed to and rotates withthe, shaft 12 and in form is symmetrical about the axis of said shaft and therefore is concentric therewith. This reel member includes a body portion of generally cylindrical form with its periphery slotted to form a series of alternating bars 82 and recesses 83, the body being mounted upon a sleeve 84, keyed to the shaft 12 and held in place thereon by a nut 85 threaded upon the end of the shaft against a rubber or 5 other suitable sealing washer 86. The other member 8| of the reel may be called its eccentric member, because while it is generally of cylindrical form it is mounted with its axis both offset slightly from and also askew or inclined to the 10, axis of the shaft I2, for reasons described more fully in said Knebusch application above referred to. The member 8| as shown comprises a head formed of inner and outer rings 81, 88, the former of which has peripheral slots to receive bars 89. 16, Rings 81 and 88 are respectively externally. and internally tapered, being held together in their a home position by screws 8Ia (Fig. 16) to firmly and rigidly clamp between them the bars89, and the inner ring 81 is mounted upon a sleeve 98 journalled to rotate upon a supporting tubular member 9| which surrounds shaft I2 and is spaced therefrom.

Member 9| is supported with its axis slightly offset from and also askew or inclined with rela 25: tion to the axis of shaft I2, the supporting means being preferably of a form enabling the degree of the askew or inclined relation to be adjusted or varied, not so much for the purpose of varying such inclination during operation f.the machine as for adjusting it to the same value on all corresponding reels in the same machine, during the original or initial setting up or assembling of such machine, for securing uniformity in operation of the several units. As shown, the rear end por- 851 tion of each tubular support 9| enters an opening in a bridge like supporting member 92, to which it is rigidly secured, such as by set screw 93. Said supporting member is provided with a channel 94 communicating with a passage 95 in'member 9I O'leading to the bearing surfaces between member 9| and the sleeve 90, channel 94 being provided at its outer end with the usual grease gun receiving nipple device 96 for supplying lubricating grease.

5, Member 92 is provided with oppositely disposed arms 91, each of which near its outer end has: a curved slot 98 (Fig. 13) to receive a cap screw 99 threaded through said slot into an opening in a block I00 integral with and forming a part of 0 the gear casing I6. Each block I88 is wide enough to receive the ends of the arms 91 of two adjacent reel supports. Further, each block has its front vertical face which is presented to an operator standing at the front of the machine in- 65clined or beveled in the vertical direction. To state it accurately, looking at the front of the machine or from theleft in Fig. 6, the front surface of the block is lnclineddownwardly and away from the observer. That is true on all in- 60 clined faces of all blocks, except as hereafter noted. The rear faces of the end portions of arms 91 which contact with the blocks are correspondingly beveled. a I

The partsare so formed that when the tubular 65 member 9I is secured in its bridge support 92 and said support is clamped to the gearbox with its arms 91 extending horizontally, the axis of the member SI (and consequently the true axis of the eccentric reel member 8 I) extends horizontal- 70 ly in a plane parallel to the horizontal planelpassing through the axis of shaft I2, and is therefore slightly offset vertically therefrom, and is also slightlyaskewor inclined with relation. thereto. The degree of the askew relation determines the 75 lead or pitch of. the turns of thread'wound in.

spiral form upon the reel and progressively advanced along it, and avery slight variation in the degree of inclination produces material varia- I tion in pitch and consequently of the spaces between turns of thread.

With the arrangement described, by loosening the cap screws in the opposite arms of a given supporting member 92 and turning said arm substantially about the axis of shaft I2, thus raising one of its arms and lowering another, the degree of inclination may be increased or diminished so 1 as to adjust it to a predetermined standard value on all corresponding reels. Specifically, referring to a single reel and to itsmember 92 and as-- suming an operator facing said reel from the left 15 in Fig. 6, if member 92 is adjusted so as to drop its right hand arm and raise its left hand arm the effect will be to swing the member 8| to the right in Fig. 7, or, in other words, to turn it in a counterclockwise direction about a vertical axis at substantially the point marked X, Fig. 7.

Not only the liquor tank or troughs and the conducting pipes therefor, but also the reel parts, and particularly those portions thereof which come in contact with the thread or with any liquor or bath to the effect of which the thread is subjected for treating purposes, are preferably made of some material which is not corroded or affected by thebath itself and which also will not dissolve or otherwise contaminate or harm the bath liquor. Any suitable material may be used for this purpose, such as special enamels or vitreous materials used in solid forms or as coatings upon a metal or other base, or the reel members or the parts thereof exposed to the liquid maybe made of Bakelite or other phenolic condensation product, or of special metals, such as aluminum or Monel metal. Further, the inner working parts of the reel are shielded from the liquid, such as by the use of the rubber washer 4o 86 and a flexible bellows like rubber boot I8I extending from one to the other of the reel members. The nut 85 is also made of or coated with non-corrodible material.

Reels of the form shown in Fig. 6 may be em- 5 ployed for each of the reels 5a to 5h inclusive, Fig. 4, and also for the first or set-up reel 5, with the exception that at the reels 5 the supports 92 are mounted so that their arms extend vertically one above and one below each reel member .and the pads to which said arms are connected are mounted upon or form portions of brackets I02 secured to or forming a 'part of the frame. Here the sloping or tapering of the pads or blocks to which the arms are secured'is in the horizontal direction instead of'in the vertical, but the slope on all pads will be in the same direction, such as sloping away and to the right from an operator standing at the frontof the machine, and rotating adjustment of the member 92 will 0 tilt the eccentric reel member up or down instead of to the right or to the left.

The reels ii are specially formed for drying purposes, in the manner shown in Figs. 2 and 3,

which views, incidentally, well illustrate the in- 5 terleaved or staggered relation of the bars of the two reel members. In this drying reel the parts are of the same form as those shown in Fig. 6, with exceptions as follows:

The driving shaft, marked 12a, is hollow and v at its rear end is suitably connectedto a source of supply of heated air under pressure, such as by a conduit I58 communicating with-a manifold I5I fed by a heater I52 through which air-is forced by a fan or blower I 53. At its front end,

beyond the hub of the concentric reel member a, the tubular shaft is provided with openings I02, and the end of the shaft is closed by a cap screw I03 which secures in place a closure I04 having a tapered periphery fitting a like seat on member 00a and therefore closing the end of said member and forming a chamber I communicating with the channel I00 within the tube. The body of member 00a is also provided with a series of through openings I01 opposite the recesses or channels between its bars. Consequent- 1y, by supplying heated air to the channel I00 it issues through the openings I02 into chamber I05 from which it is distributed to the various ports or passages I01 and is discharged radially outwardly to all parts of and along the full length of the reel while it is rotating, thereby gradually drying the turns of thread progressing along said reel so that when they leave it the thread is in dry or substantially dry form and may be directly wound and even twisted into package form, as will be readily understood.

In all of the reels used in this machine, the concentric member 80 may also be termed the "driving" member, and the eccentric member 0| the driven" member, because member 80 is fastened to and rotates with the driving shaft I2 and drives the eccentric member 8| by driving engagement between the longitudinal bars of the two reel members, as more fully described in the aforesaid Knebusch application. Any driving relation between the two reel members maybe used, however, and indeed, the phrase thread storage reel," as used herein, is intended to include not only the specific reels shown and described herein and in said Knebusch application, but indeed, any form of reel so constructed and operated as to receive the thread being formed, form it into a series, usually a large number, of successive helical turns of thread which are advanced along the reel from its receiving to its discharge end, thus providing not only a means for continuously advancing the thread, but also a means which on the single reel carries a sumcient length of thread to enable any given step or steps of a process to progress to completion while the thread is on the reel.

Suitable means is provided for subjecting the thread at any one or more of the reels 5a to in of a unit to one or more of the processing operations or treatments before referred to. These treatments usually involve subjection of the thread to the eifect of a liquid bath. Therefore, this apparatus, at each of said reels 5a to 5h inclusive, includes means forv supplying to and distributing over said reel a spray or a series of small streams or sheets of the liquid bath, together with' means for collecting said bath as it drains from the reel, and for recirculating it or conducting it to storage or to the sewer.

This means is also of a form suitable for convenient multiplication in a large machine and also for quantity production; however, the bath circulating means for all units is of the same general form and construction, description of one will sufllce for all. Because the units are arranged in groups of flve, certain portions of the bath circulating devices are likewise arranged. For example, the drainage collecting troughs are made in sections each of proper size and shape to accommodate five corresponding reels on the units of a group.

Referring to Figs. 4, 5 and 11, each such trough comprises a pan shaped body member I00 provided with an open top, and with rear, front and end walls and a bottom, the latter being provided with connection to a drain pipe I09. The several drain pipes I09 from corresponding group trough members down the full length of the machine communicate with one or more manifolds I09a connected to a pipe I 0912 leading directly to the sewer, as in the .case of wash water or other liquid which is thrown away or sent to waste, or which, as in the case of liquids which it is desired to save and use repeatedly, such as sulfuric acid applied to the reels 5a, may lead to an individual collecting receptacle I I0 for that particular liquid, where the mixture is made up and replenished with additional fresh material or adjusted as to concentration or the like from time to time.

From each such receptacle an intake pipe III leads to and communicates with a suitable pump II2 supplying the particular bath liquor to a manifold II3 extending down the entire length of the machine, or to such part of it as may be supplied by this particular pump, said manifold, opposite each of the reels, being provided with a supply pipe I I4 leading to a reagent distributor- I I5 so mounted as to distribute its liquid in spray,

sheet or multiple stream form over the length of the rotating reel which it supplies and therefore into contact with the thread upon it.

The reagent distributors H5 may be of any suitable form, for example, that shown in the prior application for Reagent distributor, Serial No. 688,026, filed September 2, 1933, by Knebusch and Hillix, to which reference may be had for a more complete description, if desirable or necessary. In Fig. 4 of the drawings, collecting troughs I08 are shown, one for each of the reels 5a to En inclusive, all thereof being mounted upon suitable brackets on ,supports H6 carried by the main frame. Each of the trough members has its front wall, shown in elevation in Fig. 5, cut out or recessed as at II! to more or less expose theend'of the reel presented to it, and, as illustrated in the plan view, Fig. 7, the front wall is provided with re-entrant portions H0 located to lie directly beneath one side of the reel Just above it, adjacent its discharge end, thus providing an open notch orrecess in the pan'and through its bottom, through which the thread is led from reel to reel.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 4 and it has been stated that 1 represents the collecting device for the finished thread, shown in this instance as a cap twister of substantially standard form. Each unit includes one of said twisters. a plurality thereof, however, being driven in parallel or by the same powersource. As illustrated, and in accordance with common practice, the machine is provided with a long drum or pulley II! connected by belts I to the cap twister spindles, for rotating them, belts I20 having belt tighteners I20a and said drum being driven by a belt HI actuated by direct drive from the shaft of motor I0 or from some part of the speed reducing mechanism or device I0.

For reciprocating the twister spindles the machine is provided with a speed reducing gearso that the thread is twisted and at the same time wound in regular pattern form upon the spool or bobbin. Any other form of collecting device might be used, however. I Considering the entire machine, its operation,

briefly described, is as follows:

Referring first to a single unit, it will of course be understood that such unit will include in operative relation only such reels as are necessary for the performance upon the thread of the various steps of the particular process to which it is to be subjected. Of course, by proper arrangement of thereagent distributors and liquids, two or even more steps might be performed upon the threadwhile travelling along a single reel, such as bysupplyingto it first an acid bath and then wash water. Assuming then that the machine includes only those reels necessary for the particular purpose, together with reagent distributors, and that the clutch drives for all reels are connected so that the reels are rotating, the spinneret for the unit is immersed in the spin bath and a supply of viscose is permitted to exude therefrom in the usual multiple filament form, the multiple filament thread being threaded by hand through the guides 3 and 4 and being applied to the thread receiving end (the right hand end, Fig. 4) of the first or set-up reel 5.

reels are open-ended, as described, transfer of the thread from reel to reel occurs automatically without either special manipulation by the operator or any necessity for use of special transfer mechanism, the discharged turn or turns of thread which first come off'from. the free end of one reel being thrown out by centrifugal force or dropping by gravity until they contact with the next reel and immediately begin to wind upon it. Such operation usually occurs in the transfer from the initial or set-up reel 5 to the next reel 5a in the machine shown.

However, if desired, any suitable form of trans- J fer mechanism or device may be used, such as one in which the thread is conveyed mechanically or by a stream of air or liquidor by any suitable force from one reel to the next, or, the

- thread may be transferred by manipulation of the operator. In this case, the discharged turns are grasped in the fingers and are led down to and wrapped once in the proper direction around the second reel in of the unit. During this op-' lining itself up automatically in a direct linefrom reel toreel.

A similar operation is performed when the first turns of thread are discharged from the end of reel So, for the purpose of transferring it to reel 5b. Here also the thread bows or bellies out a d then gradually becomes more and more taut. At

first thethread drags over the front wall of the trough for reel 5a, but gradually moves along said front wall until of itself it enters the notch H8, whereuponthe thread travels back to the receiving end of reel 5b and automatically lines itself a up so as to pass in a direct line from a point at the discharge end of reel 5a to a point at the receiving end of reel 5b.

Up to this time, a matter of seconds, the thread has wound hit or miss or helter-skelter' upon reel 5b. The winding operation now proceeds,

turn after turn being formed and progressing 'along reel 5b until finally the leading turns of' thread (those wound hit or miss) are discharged from the free end of reel 51:, whereupon they are grasped by the fingers and the thread is led by hand down to and around the third reel 50, where the operation proceeds as before, with the thread finally finding its own way into the recess H8 in the second trough. Similar operations are performed in succession to transfer the thread from reel to reel'down the entire series until finally the thread is led to the drying reel 5: and is discharged therefrom, whereupon it is led through the guide 6 and is applied to the spool on the take-up device I, where-it begins to be wound in pattern form in the'usual manner.

Each reel 'is provided with its individual clutch,

and the levers 14 for all of the reels may be individually'operatable. However, for convenience, the levers 14 for reels 5a to ii of a unit may be connected by a bar I35 having an operating handle I36 at a convenient point so that all of these reels in one unit may be started and stopped simultaneously. v

Further, it will be understood that'the change various sets of corresponding reels in neighboring units readily enables the speed of any particular group of corresponding reels to be made speed mechanism in the transmissions to the greater or less than that of the corresponding reels which precede or follow them. In this way. for example, it ispossible to give following reels. say the reels 5a, a peripheral speed slightly greater than that of the reels next precedingthem, say the reels 5, so that at any point along the travel of a thread in a unit, and particularly at any point where the thread retains any degree of plasticity, it is possible to stretch it or increase its length for the practice of the well known process of stretch spinning, with the valuable results ensuing therefrom.-

Likewise, a limited amount of stretching may,

be accomplished on any one reel alone by making its reel members of generally tapered form, instead of generally cylindrical as shown in Fig. 4, the reel gradually increasing in diameter from its receiving to its discharge end, as shown in Fig. 15, thereby gradually increasing the reel diameter toward the discharge end and stretching and thereby lengthening each turn of thread as quence,'it may be desirable in very long machines to duplicate the driving andchange speed mechanism to said shafts not only at opposite ends of the machine, but also to use extra sets of such motion transmitting and speed changing mechanism at intervals down the length of the ma- 2,225,642 chine, to distribute the driving strain and reduce torque and liability of breakage in said shafts.

The mechanism described is shown as driven by a single motor l8, but of course any given machine can be divided up 'into sections with individual motors driving different sections which may be separate or may even be connected to-: gether, in which case of course the motors would necessarily be of such formor so associated as to operate in synchronous relation. With the arrangement described ready and convenient access is had to both the front and rear of all of the operating mechanism in the inclined bank on eachside of the machine. At the front operators will work on platforms, either stationary or movable, or on a rolling ladder or frame,

such as shown at 0, Fig. 1, its lower end provided with rollers traveling on iloor rails Ill and its upper end having rollers traveling along a frame rail I42. On the inside of the machine, between its. two banks, there are two platforms on which the workmen can gain access to any of the mechanism. The machine as a whole can be readily adapted'for various kinds or sizes of thread with any degree of stretch and with theassurance that by proper setting and adjustment of parts uniform characteristics will be imparted to every foot of every thread. As a consequence,

all product of the machine will have the same dyeing and other physical and chemical characteristics, making it suitable for use in both woven and knitted textile fabrics.

' form of a thread-storage thread-advancingreel,

which is adapted to'adva'nce the thread or the like positively in generally helical turns in a d'irection lengthwise of thedevice as a whole. The term catena has reference to a series of such devices to each of which the thread or the like proceeds in turn: that is to say, to a succession of two or more functionally dependent threadadvancing thread store devices.

What we claim is: I I 1. Apparatus for the manufacture of thread or the like comprising a series of thread-storage, thread-advancing reels disposed with the receiving end of each reel other than the'flrst in oppo site relation to the discharge end of the next preceding reel, said reels being in stepped relation to each other with each thereof projecting endwise beyond its predecessor.

2. Apparatus. of the character .described in claim 1, in which all reels are mounted with their axes substantially'horizontally' disposed.

3. Apparatus of the character described in claim 1, in which the axes of all reels are in the' same vertical plane.

4. Apparatus for the manufacture of thread or stantially identical products on the same machine I comprising a plurality of parallel thread-handling catenae individually embodying two or more thread-storage, thread-advancing reels to which the thread orthe like passes in sequence each of which reels is supported from one end only thereof, the other end being unobstructed, and each of which reels is adapted to advance the thread or the like toward the unsupported end thereof in a series of substantially helical turns, the

thread-storage, thread-advancing reels of each,

catena being disposed with their unsupported ends extending in the same direction, with the discharge ends of all reels presented to a common front, and with adjacent reels arranged to permit passing the thread or the like from the discharge end of. one reel to the receiving end of the succeeding reel, whereby to facilitate the threading upof the reels of each catena and permit simultaneous observation of the conditions of the thread or the like at the unsupported ends of the reels-of several catenae.

6. In the manufacture of thread or the like, apparatus for the simultaneous production of substantially-identical products on the same machine comprising a plurality of parallel thread-handling catenae individually embodying two or more thread-storage, thread-advancing reels to which the thread or the like passes'in sequence each of which reels is supported from one end only thereof. the other end being unobstructed, and each of which reels is adapted to advance the thread or the like toward theunsupportedend thereof in a series of substantially helical turns, the threadstorage, thread-advancing reels of each catena being disposed in vertically spaced arrangement with their unsupported ends extending in the same direction, with the discharge ends of all reels presented to a common front, and with adjacent reels arranged to permit passing the thread or the like from the discharge end of one reel to the receiving end of the succeeding reel, whereby tofacilitate the threading up of the reels of each catena and permit simultaneous observation of the condition of' the thread or the like at the unsupported ,ends of the reels of several catenae.

'7. In the manufacture of thread or the like. apparatus for the simultaneous production of substantially identical products on the same machine comprising a plurality of parallel thread-handling catenae individually embodying two or more thread-advancing thread store devices to which the thread or the like passes'in sequence each of which devices is supported from one end only thereof, the other end being unobstructed, and each of which devices is adapted to advance the thread or the like toward the unsupported end thereof, the thread-advancing thread store devices of each catena being disposed in the form discharge ends of all devices presented to a common front, and with adjacent devices arranged to permit passing the threador the like from the discharge end of one device to the receiving end of the succeeding device, whereby to facilitate the threading up of the devices of each catena and permit simultaneous observation of the condition of the thread or the like at the unsupp rted ends of the devices of several catenae.

,8. Apparatus for the manufacture of thread or the like comprising a plurality of self-threading thread-advancing thread store devices to which the thread or the like passes in sequence each of.

which is supported from one end only thereof, the

is adapted to'advance the thread or the like toward the unsupported end thereof, said threadadvancinz thread store devices being disposed lengthwise of each other in oflset arrangement with the supported end of each device other than the first in apposite relation to the unsupported other end being unobstructed, and each of which' end of the next preceding device. with the tin-- supported end of each device other than the first projecting beyond that of its predecessor, and with the unsupported ends of all devices extending in the same direction.

WALTER F. KNEBUSCH. ALDEN H. BURKHOLDER.

CERTIFICATE foF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,225, 6&2. December 21;, -19L 0.

. WALTER F. KTNEBUSCH, ET AL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed'specification of the abovenumbered patent requiring correction aefoilow: Page 1, first column, line 211., afterthe word "reels" strike out the comma; page 2, first column, line 9, for"threads" read thread; page 1;, second column; line 22, for "tank" read tanks--; page '7, first column, line 55-56 and line- 6970,'c19 .ims landh. respectively, for "opposite" read -appo:eite--; end that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein "that the same may conform'to the record of the case in the Patent ofrice. U v

j Signed and sealed this 15th day of April, A. D. 19141 v Henry Van Arsdale, I (Sea1) Acting commissioner of-Patents. 

